'My daughter was smart, beautiful and bullied. I didn't know how bad it was until it was too late.'

When Selina Nicholson woke up and noticed the lights in the house were still off last week, her first thought was her daughter Clarrissa had slept in.

Normally, the 13-year-old from Queensland would have been up and on her way to school already.

But the house stood dark, quiet. Selina, who is pregnant, felt something wasn't right.

LISTEN: What it's really like to talk to bullied kids. Post continues below.

"She'd catch the bus in the morning, so she'd be up early to do her lashes and her hair. She loved looking beautiful," Selina told Mamamia, explaining Clarrissa would normally leave the house by 7am for the bus.

"I woke up a couple of minutes before my alarm and I was like, 'oh, she hasn't woken me up.' So I thought I'll just give her a quick call, because I had my little ones in bed. She never answered.

"I got up and, normally, she leaves all the lights on in the house — the house was dark. So, I thought 'she's slept in. I'll go wake her up.' I opened the door and I found her."

Clarrissa was 13 at the time of her death. Image: Supplied.

Clarrissa had taken her life after a relentless campaign of bullying.

Selina said the bullying came mostly from male students. It started with physical humiliation, before turning verbal, emotional, and proceeding online.

"She'd be sitting down and people would sit behind her and kick the chair and like just constantly kicking it," Selina explained. "They'd throw her stuff on the ground; her iPad or her books, everything,

"They were calling her names like she'd get called 'flounder,' 'flat face' — she'd be told 'no one loved her' … just horrible things."

Her family was made aware of the bullying last year and promptly took her out of school to do distance education.

"There was just no support, you know," Selina said. "Because it was a lot of boys bullying her, I was basically told 'it's probably because they like her (have) a crush on her.'"

While Clarrissa was doing distance education, things seemed to improve. The teen made the decision to return to the classroom in July for Term 3.

"She literally only went back to school this term," Selina said. "She had all her friends convince her, like, 'come back. We miss you. We love you.'"

The teen battled with in-person and online bullying. Image: Supplied.

Selina made it clear to Clarrissa she could resume distance education should the bullying resume.

"I was so hesitant. I was like, 'look this is up to you,'" Selina said. "She never told me anything, so I just thought things were going so well, but obviously not.

"The week before, she was like, 'Oh, I got a B+ on my maths assessment and things like that.' She was getting postcards home from teachers about how well she was doing.

"I was just in the dark. I had no idea. Oh gosh, I just wish she'd told me."

Since Clarrissa's death, her family have been trying to make sense of it.

Her "nan" Trish suspects the teenager didn't tell anyone the bullying had resumed because she was trying to protect her mum.

Clarrissa pictured with Selina. Image: Supplied.

"I do believe Clarrissa didn't want to upset her mum. She loved her mum to bits," Trish said.

"Everybody that met her; she touched them in a positive way. That's truly who she is."

The Nicholsons want Australia to know about their "smart," "funny", "bright spark of a girl."

They also have a message to other parents who may be navigating bullying.

Clarrissa with her grandma Trish. Image: Supplied.

"Never stop asking if they're ok, every day ask them. Every day," Trish said. "Even to the point of harassing them. It's a hard one, especially when kids are teenagers.

"These days it's non-stop. You go home, get text messages, you've got Facebook abuse, it's everywhere. They can't escape the bullying."

Trish added she'd like to see regular classes introduced to schools to raise awareness of the impacts of bullying.

"Something has to be done, that's all we know, something. Because right now, it is not working."

Feature image: Supplied.

If you or anyone you know needs to speak with an expert, please contact your GP or in Australia, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), all of which provide trained counsellors you can talk with 24/7.

If you have been bereaved or impacted by suicide loss at any stage in your life, StandBy is a free service you can access on 1300 727 247.